Ministry of Justice

Youth Rehabilitation Orders

The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask His Majesty's Government when the pilot trial changes to Youth Rehabilitation Orders with Intensive Supervision and Surveillance will commence; and when they will report on their findings.

Lord Bellamy: Piloting the changes to Youth Rehabilitation Orders with Intensive Supervision and Surveillance are subject to the passage of secondary legislation which we intend to lay shortly. If passed, we intend that the new powers will come into force by summer 2023 for an initial 18-month period in selected areas. An evaluation will determine whether to fully roll out the changes. Publication of the findings will follow, but an exact date has not yet been decided.

Prisoners: Pastoral Care

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty's Government what emotional support and spiritual provision is available toprisoners under Imprisonment for Public Protection.

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the numbers of prisoners under Imprisonment for Public Protection serving ten or more years beyond their original tariff.

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of women serving sentencesunder Imprisonment for Public Protection.

Lord Bellamy: The Government is committed to the protection of the public and the effective management of offenders. By law, prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who have completed their tariff will be released only when the Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for them to remain confined. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to work closely with Samaritans for the delivery of the Listener Scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress. It is important to highlight that Prison Chaplaincy provides not only faith and belief advice but pastoral care to prisoners of all faiths, beliefs and of none, irrespective of sentence type or length, in support of HMPPS’ commitment to decency, safety and rehabilitation. As the number of those serving IPP sentences in prison who have never been released reduces, the proportion of cases which are the most complex and high risk increases. This does mean that we should expect that the number of first releases will continue to slow and the time spent past tariff will increase. However, the IPP Action Plan is focused on, firstly, ensuring each IPP prisoner has a sentence plan, regularly reviewed, with clear objectives as to what the prisoner has to do to reduce risk and, secondly, that the prisoner is held in a prison with an opportunity to achieve those objectives. In the Government response to the Justice Select Committee’s IPP report, we committed to refreshing the IPP Action Plan, focusing not only on important changes to improve the prospects of IPP offenders making progress towards a prospective safe and sustainable release, but also to ensure there are robust processes to drive effective monitoring and accountability for delivery of that plan. The Women’s Estate Psychology Service (WEPS) have implemented a National IPP strategy which takes a bespoke case management approach to each woman serving an IPP sentence. The overarching goal of the strategy is to ensure that all are proactively supported to progress through their prison sentences as quickly as possible. Psychologists regularly review cases and jointly work with prison and probation colleagues to remove barriers to progression and expedite completion of interventions and services. There are, as of end December 2022, 40 women in custody serving an IPP sentence, 12 of whom have never been released.

Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide accommodation for prisoners for the first week and weekend after release in instances where the prisoner has lost their home after being remanded in custody for sentence.

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require the Probation Service to arrange accommodation for prisoners for the first week and weekend after release in instances where the prisoner has lost their home after being remanded in custody for sentence; and what steps they will take to ensure the Probation Service is sufficiently resourced to do so.

Lord Bellamy: HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has a range of interventions available to support those on remand when they are released to ensure that they are not homeless.All resettlement prisons have an embedded pre-release resettlement function. These pre-release teams identify and address immediate resettlement needs when the individual arrives. This accommodation support, delivered through Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts, includes support and guidance to ensure continuation of an existing tenancy, applications for housing benefit, assistance to access rent deposit and rent advance schemes and compliance with any tenancy obligations to avoid or manage accommodation arrears. We are currently working on extending all Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts for accommodation to unsentenced people in prison.Additionally, in accordance with relevant housing legislation in both England and in Wales, HMPPS has a duty to refer anyone at risk of becoming homeless on release from prison to a local authority for housing assistance.In relation to prisoners who have been on remand, subsequently convicted and released as time served they can be referred to our Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS-3), which provides up to 12 weeks of temporary housing, providing that they are subject to probation supervision.

Secure Accommodation

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bellamy on 8 March (HL5707), what plans they have to improve the recording and publishing of data in relation to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction.

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bellamy on 8 March (HL5707), whether they will record and publish data in relation to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction, on a comparable basis to that for children subject to secure accommodation orders.

Lord Bellamy: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are committed to making changes to internal case management systems to enable the routine publishing of data relating to applications to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the court, taking consideration of the data-related recommendations made within the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory report.HMCTS are working with the Department of Education and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory on how the current data can continue to be made available whilst the necessary changes are made to the case management systems.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Jagtar Singh Johal

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current situation of British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal, detained in India since 2017 on charges of terrorism; and when they last raised his case with the government of that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has consistently raised Mr Johal's case with the Government of India and is committed to doing what it can to assist him. The Foreign Secretary most recently discussed Mr Johal's case with the Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in Delhi on 1 March. Consular staff visit Mr Johal regularly to check on his welfare and did so most recently on 7 March. Consular staff also continue to attend relevant court hearings in an observer capacity.

EU Law: Northern Ireland

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 21 March (HL6299), what are the (1) names, and (2) titles, of the EU rules for internal UK trade which are disapplied by the operation of the Windsor Framework; and which customs provisions are removed.

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 21 March (HL6296), what are the (1) names, and (2) titles, of the EU laws which will remain in force in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, which would otherwise be subject to removal under the provisions of the Retained EU Law Bill.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government is committed to taking the necessary steps to uphold the UK's international obligations, including the Withdrawal Agreement and the Windsor Framework, as set out in the previous answer. As also set out, all of the rules disapplied are set out in the legal texts published as part of the Windsor Framework. By the EU's own calculations, less than 3 percent of EU rules apply - with those that remain only applying to secure maximum free trade and market access for Northern Ireland firms. It should also be recognised that this is not a straightforward list, as some of those rules will be applied in part for the red lane but not applied in the green lane, for example. But, for example:- Annex 1 of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary legal text shows that 67 rules on food and drink do not apply in the green lane - covering issues like marketing standards, food supplements and additives, and the production of organic products. It also disapplies the certification requirements in the EU Official Controls Regulation, as well as the prohibitions on various movements set out therein.- Requirements in the Union Customs Code (UCC) for rules of origin certificates, tariffs, and commodity codes for each movement do not apply for internal UK trade; nor are there any requirements for customs declarations for consumer parcels, which are classified automatically as "not at risk". And we have secured unfettered access by removing any need for export declarations or equivalent information for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain as would otherwise have been set out in the UCC.- In a similar vein, and as noted previously, the requirements in the VAT Directive which prevented the zero-rating of energy-saving materials has been disapplied, enabling the changes we brought forward in Parliament this week; as have limits on alcohol duty structures in EU rules harmonising excise duty structures.- And for medicines we have disapplied any role for the European Medicines Agency in authorising medicines for the UK market, as otherwise set out in EU rules on the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products; and removed packaging any other requirements in the Falsified Medicines Directive.These changes have safeguarded Northern Ireland's place in the Union and our internal market, while continuing to support Northern Ireland's businesses by providing them access to the whole UK market as well as the EU market.

Religious Freedom

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards fulfilling recommendation six of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review into the support for persecuted Christians to make the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief a permanent role.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The FCDO welcomes the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop of Truro's recommendations, which noted that establishing the role of the position of Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) was at an advanced stage of delivery. The Special Envoy, Fiona Bruce MP, works with the Minister for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, and through the Foreign Secretary to the Prime Minister. We continue to ensure that progress made on the Truro recommendations is embedded and that FoRB is central to our wider human rights work.

BBC Arabic Service

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they had any metrics in place to quantify the soft power advantage of the BBC Arabic radio service during its 85 years of broadcasting; what assessment they have made ofany loss of soft power to the UK following its closure on 27 January; and whether they have had any discussions on the matter with the BBC in 2023.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The FCDO strongly values the important work of the BBC World Service in providing accurate and impartial news to 365 million people globally each week.The FCDO engages regularly with the BBC. The BBC and the Foreign Secretary periodically agree objectives, priorities and targets, which include audience reach metrics. However, the BBC remains operationally and editorially independent of Government and service delivery decisions are for them to take. Though BBC Arabic radio broadcasting has ceased, the service remains available via TV and digital platforms, reflecting audience trends. BBC Arabic is funded by the Licence Fee, with some additional support via the FCDO-funded 'World2020 programme'.As stated in the Integrated Review Refresh, the UK Government is working to bring soft power into its broader foreign policy approach. This includes providing a one-off £20 million uplift to the World Service to protect all 42 language services, recognising its crucial role in supporting UK soft power and countering harmful disinformation.

India: Human Rights

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government when they last raised human rights issues with the government of India; and, further to theUS State Department’s annual country report on human rights practices in India, published on 20 March, what assessment they have made of any increase in significant human rights issues inthat country, including the reported targeting of religious minorities, dissidents and journalists.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship. We remain committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all, media freedom and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. Where we have issues, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.  I, Lord [Tariq] Ahmad, regularly speak to the High Commissioner of India. Human rights forms part of that dialogue. Our networks across India regularly meet civil society groups and run projects promoting human rights.

Syria: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government, what discussions they have had with international partners about the possibility of opening a channel of communication to the insurgent group Hei’at Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib, in order to be able to combat the threat from ISIS in north western Syria more effectively.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Daesh are both proscribed by the UK Government under the Terrorism Act 2000. We are closely monitoring the security situation in north west Syria, including the actions of Daesh and maintain a regular dialogue with our international counterparts. The UK is a leading member of the Global Coalition and we are committed to making sure they cannot resurge in the region.

Israel: Palestinians

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Israel following the remarks on19 March by the Finance Minister of Israel, Bezalel Smotrich,concerning Palestinian history and culture; and whether they have made any assessment of the potential impact resulting from the Minister’s remarks onpeace and stability in the region.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK condemned the Israeli Finance Minister's comments calling for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be "wiped out" and his recent comments that deny the existence of the Palestinian people, their right to self-determination and their history and culture. Such rhetoric serves no purpose other than to stoke tensions further.

Department of Health and Social Care

Obesity: Statistics

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to collect data on the causes of obesity; and if so, when this will start.

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to promote personal calorie control as one of the main mechanisms for preventing obesity.

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of obesity; in particular, (1) food addiction, (2) genetics, and (3) other factors.

Lord Markham: Obesity is a complex problem, and the causes are multi-factorial, including biological; physiological; psycho-social; behavioural; and environmental factors. There are no plans to collect data on the causes of obesity and no specific assessment has been made on the causes of obesity. Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Eatwell Guide shows the proportions in which different types of foods should be consumed to have a healthy balanced diet, including average calorie intakes for men and women. The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through a variety of channels, including the National Health Service website, Government social marketing campaigns, and guidance on healthier catering. For example, the Better Health campaign encourages adults to introduce changes that will help them work towards a healthier weight, including guidance on healthier food choices, calorie intake and portion control.

Cancer: Health Services

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government why they have discarded the NHS England 10 Year Cancer Strategy for a combined 5 Year Major Conditions Strategy.

Lord Markham: The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer in people of all ages, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients. Many patients experience major conditions as part of a wider set of illnesses or needs. The aim is to support individuals by diagnosing them earlier, helping them to manage their conditions better and improving the overall co-ordination of their treatment and care. By bringing cancer and the other major conditions together into a single strategy, we will be able to ensure care is better centred around the patient. This Strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year.

Beef: Origin Marking

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Food Standards Agency's investigation into the mislabelling of the country of origin on pre-packaged sliced beef.

Lord Markham: The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) National Food Crime Unit is carrying out an investigation into a meat supplier. The investigation commenced in August 2021 and is pursuing allegations that the supplier fraudulently provided products labelled as British that were sourced from other countries. As this is a complex criminal investigation which must be carried out with due process and fairness, it is important that the investigation continues to adhere to the highest possible professional standards so that justice can be served. In recent weeks allegations have been made regarding potential hygiene and food safety breaches, with the FSA currently exploring these allegations. No current food safety risks have been identified. The Chief Executive has recently made a statement about the investigation. The FSA is held to account by its independent Board, which was set up in the 1999 Food Standards Act. The Board meets in public on a quarterly basis and next meets on 21 June 2023, in Belfast.

Coronavirus: Screening

Lord Strathcarron: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 8 February (HL5061), when data for April 2022 and beyond will be validated for release; and on what grounds this information is commercially sensitive.

Lord Markham: The data relating to the number of lateral flow device (LFD) tests purchased between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 will be available in late 2023 on completion of the National Audit Office audit on financial year 2022/23. The timescales of the audit are currently being discussed and agreed. The UK Health Security Agency consider that releasing the information on the total costs of LFD tests would not be in the public interest as it could prejudice future commercial relations with suppliers if this information were to be disclosed in the public domain.

Gonorrhoea

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to limit the spread of extensively antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea (1) in the general population, (2) in vulnerable populations, and (3) among elderly populations.

Lord Markham: The effectiveness of treatment for gonorrhoea continues to be threatened by the development of resistance to the last-line treatment, ceftriaxone. The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme (GRASP) includes a suite of testing and surveillance systems to detect and monitor antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and potential treatment failures. GRASP reports annually on drug resistance in N. gonorrhoeae in England and Wales and has directly influenced changes in treatment guidelines on three occasions. Additionally, all primary diagnostic laboratories test gonococcal isolates for susceptibility to ceftriaxone and refer suspected resistant isolates to the UKHSA national reference laboratory for confirmatory testing and follow-up in real-time. UKHSA has published guidance on managing cases of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea and performs a risk assessment for each case. If there is a risk of transmission within England, UKHSA instigates an Incident Response to contain spread. This applies to all population groups, including vulnerable and elderly populations, as the approach to tackling antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea is universal across England.

General Practitioners: Complaints

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government how many patients used the complaints procedure of their local GP surgery in England in each of the last five years; and what was the average length of time GP surgeries in England to investigate patient complaints and to provide a response.

Lord Markham: The following table shows the number of complaints received by general practitioners (GPs) in the past five years, and is derived from the document, ‘Data on Written Complaints in the NHS 2021-22’. A copy of this document is attached. YearNumber of complaints2021/2299,4592020/2172,0872019/20Not available2018/1972,3562017/1875,782 The data collection for GP practices was suspended in 2019/20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so data for that year is unavailable. Data on the length of time that it took GP surgeries to investigate and provide a response to complainants is not collected centrally.Data on Written Complaints in the NHS 2021-22 (xlsx, 402.0KB)

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the international nurses who arrived in the UK in the past 12 months have had an Objective Structured Clinical Examination; and how many have passed that examination.

Lord Markham: The information is not held in the format requested. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and nursing associates in England. It sets the standards that registrants must meet to demonstrate that they are capable of practising safely and effectively in those professions. Information on the number of professionals sitting and passing the Objective Structured Clinical Examination is published on the NMC’s website in an online-only format.

Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications the sale of the Vaccines Manufacturing And Innovation Centre (VMIC) near Oxford for the UK’s long-term investment in vaccine manufacturing; and how the disposal of the VMIC will contribute to the preparedness of the UK for future pandemics, particularly in view of the experiences of COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Markham: The decision to sell the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre was made by VMIC UK Ltd.’s Board of Directors, with the facility being subsequently sold to Catalent. Once completed, it is intended that the facility will be capable of producing a range of therapeutics and vaccines. Officials regularly engage with industry stakeholders to understand the wider landscape and implications for vaccine development and manufacturing in the United Kingdom and will continue to do so. Officials are also working across Government to review lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future health emergencies.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice: To ask His Majesty's Government how many international nurses NHS Trusts have recruited in the past 12 months; and of those, how many have beenpermitted to work.

Lord Markham: This information is not collected centrally.

Meat: Imports

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask His Majesty's Government at which point checks are carried out on meat imported into the UK; how many checks are purely on the basis of documentary evidence; and what proportion are physical checks.

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of imported meats were denied entry into the UK for having failed documentary or physical checks in each of the last three years.

Lord Markham: Documentary, identity and physical checks on imported meat and meat products from non- European Union countries are undertaken at the first point of entry into Great Britain at designated Border Controls Posts.The frequency of checks applied to imported meat and meat products are prescribed in Commission Retained Regulation (EU) 2019/2124. Imported meat, meat preparations and meat products are subject to 100% documentary and identity checks, with the frequency of physical checks varying from 1% to 30% depending upon the type of meat product that is imported.As our systems record all failures arising from documentary, identity, or physical checks, it may be the case that a single consignment may have failed one or all the checks. The total number of documentary, identity and physical checks failures as a percentage of all checks carried out in 2020 was 0.36%, in 2021, 0.34% and in 2022, 0.31%.

Department for Transport

Carbon Emissions

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero by the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP, published on 26 September 2022, what plans they have to implement the strategy proposed in the report and its recommendation that the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate is introduced by 2024.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: As set out in the Government’s response to the Independent Review of Net Zero, the Government has published a consultation on the final proposals for the ZEV mandate regulations, to apply from 2024, to support the delivery of the commitments made to phase out the sale of new non-zero emission vehicles.

Department for Education

Schools: Fire Prevention

Lord Best: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish a response to their consultation Building Bulletin 100: Fire Safety Design for Schools, which closed on 18 August 2021.

Baroness Barran: The department takes fire safety in schools very seriously. This is why the consultation draft of ‘BB100: Fire Safety Design for Schools’ proposed multiple interventions to further improve the already high fire safety standards of school buildings.The department has been reviewing and evaluating the evidence submitted before, during, and post consultation, and will publish the response to the consultation and updated guidance in due course.

Higher Education: Care Leavers

Baroness Eaton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many care leavers made applications tohigher education institutions in each of the last three years for which data are available, broken down by individual institution.

Baroness Eaton: To ask His Majesty's Government how manycare leavers were made offers to attend a higher education institution in each of the last three years for which data are available, broken down by individual institution.

Baroness Eaton: To ask His Majesty's Government how manycare leavers were accepted onto undergraduate courses at higher education institutions in each of the last three years for which data are available, broken down by institution.

Baroness Barran: Data on applications, offers, and acceptances for care leavers by institution is not held by the department. This information may be available from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Training

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what programmes they havein place to support the retraining of workers to enable them to access work in new sectors.

Baroness Barran: The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over this Parliament. The department’s skills reforms provide a ladder of opportunity that enables young people and adults to attain good jobs, retrain, and progress in their careers or different careers.In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a new initiative called Returnerships. This programme is designed to raise awareness of three different skills pathways, apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, and sector-based work academies programmes. This will provide a clear route back into work and encourage employers to hire older workers.Apprenticeships are available for everyone over the age of 16, from those starting their career, to experienced workers looking to upskill or retrain in a new profession. There are high-quality apprenticeship routes into more than 660 occupations, from entry to expert roles.As part of our investment in re-skilling and up-skilling opportunities to ensure adults, at any age, can upskill to reach their potential, transforming lives, Skills Bootcamps were introduced at the end of 2020. They deliver short, free, flexible training courses, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview with an employer on completion.Skills Bootcamps are still a relatively new training offer, but they are already delivering positive outcomes for adult learners and employers, and are available right across the country. Following the recent Budget announcement, the department will target making 64,000 training places a year available by the 2024/25 financial year to ensure that learners across all areas of the country can access Skills Bootcamps.We have also introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme, which gives eligible adults in England without an existing full level 3 qualification or who are unemployed or meet the low wage criteria, the chance to access over 400 Level 3 qualifications for free.The offer has seen over 35,000 enrolments reported between April 2021 and October 2022. This means that enrolments are 82% higher for adults without a full level 3 compared uptake of the same qualifications in 2018/19.We are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), with an investment of £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship, or further learning.The National Careers Service provides free, up-to-date, impartial information, advice and guidance on careers, skills, and the labour market in England. It offers intensive support for low skilled adults without a qualification at level 3, as one of six priority groups for the Service. Professionally qualified careers advisers can support customers to explore the range of learning routes to determine the best route for them and to develop a careers action plan.Community-based National Careers Service contractors are co-located in most Jobcentre Plus offices, as well as a range of other community settings. They work closely with work coaches at a local level, encouraging work coaches to refer customers in need of careers advice and guidance to the Service.

Turing Scheme

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the causes of delays to payments to students on the Turing scheme; and what plans they have (1) to reduce the level of bureaucracy involved in applications, and (2) to mitigate the effect of these problems on poorer students.

Baroness Barran: Turing Scheme grant recipients are organisations that are, in the main, education providers. The department is aware that some organisations have experienced issues navigating the process for claiming Turing Scheme funds, including providing the correct evidence on projects, which has led to delays in payment being processed. The Turing Scheme delivery partner, Capita, has already taken steps to help organisations better understand the process. This includes video instructions, written guidance and one to one telephone support when requested.Department officials are also working with Capita to review how it can improve the overall customer experience while obtaining assurance that Turing Scheme funds are being appropriately spent, within the grant terms.Under the current payment process, it is the responsibility of grant recipients to request grant funds on time, in line with project plans and to disburse funding to participants. To ensure this does not negatively impact disadvantaged students, Capita have made payments outside of its regular payment cycle where requests have been submitted late or were initially rejected due to incomplete evidence, especially if this puts student placements at risk.The Turing Scheme continues to place great emphasis on providing opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.